President is hopeful for cooperation as top lawmakers meet

President Barack Obama said lawmakers appear to have made progress on a deal to reopen the government and avert a default, Reuters reported.

Obama and Vice President Joe Biden were due to meet this afternoon with Sens. Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell and U.S. Reps John Boehner and Nancy Pelosi.

"My hope is that a spirit of cooperation will move us forward in the next few hours," Obama said this morning.

Starting Thursday, the Treasury Department will only have cash on hand and any money coming in to pay the government's bills, and the market reactions will likely be bad, according to thisCNNMoney article.

AnotherCNNMoney articlelays out how small businesses across the country are trying to figure out how they'll make up lost business. The burden is especially hard for companies that count the government as a client.